Former U.S. President George W. Bush said that he didn’t enjoy Osama bin Laden’s death, in an interview for National Geographic, a special program that will begin in August, marking ten years since the attacks of September 11, CBS reports.
“I felt no great happiness. Or jubilation”, said Bush, according to National Geographic story, also telling about the moments in his personal life and his feelings during the traumatic events around the time of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
“I had the sentiment that it was over. And I felt a kind of gratitude”, said the former president, when asked about eliminating Al-Qaida terrorist network leader, it said in a statement.
The interview was scheduled, by coincidence, just two days after a commando of the Navy SEALs eliminated, on May 2, Osama bin Laden in his complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Although Bush’s official statements immediately after killing al-Qaeda leader contained expressions such as “victory for America” and “justice is done”, the new statements provide a more “fresh, and less complicated” opinion of the events, commented CBS.
“I was during a lunch at a restaurant with Laura and two friends”, Bush said to ABC News in his first statement about killing bin Laden, referring to the time when he received a call from President Barack Obama. “I apologized and went home to talk on the phone”, he continues. “Barack Obama simply said: <<Osama bin Laden is dead >>”.
“The guy died. That is fine,” said Bush. “Osama’s death is a great victory in the war against terrorism. He was considered a leader. Intelligence service deserves a lot of trust”, the former president also stressed.